Cisco Systems to Make Major Expansion in Park
Booming Tech Company Leases Over 150,000 Square Feet in New Project

Cisco Systems has leased 60,000 square feet of the Lincoln Property facility currently
under construction at 5880 Owens Drive as well as the entire 97,000 square foot facility
next door at 5860 Owens Drive.

By Jay Hipps
Network Editor

Cisco Systems, a computer networking manufacturer that has risen to prominence in recent years, has leased over 150,000 square feet of space in Hacienda in two buildings currently under development by Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company.

Cisco has leased the entire property at 5860 Owens Drive, a three-story, 97,000 square foot facility across the street from the East Dublin/Pleasanton BART station.

The company has also signed on for approximately 60,000 square feet in Lincoln's adjacent building at 5880 Owens Drive.

Quality of Life is a Key
Aside from a local sales office, this will be the company's first office in the area. Cisco's Steve Langdon indicates that the company has several reasons for expanding to the Tri-Valley.

The main reason, according to Langdon, is the quality of life in the Tri-Valley, which compares favorably with locations anywhere.

He also notes that the area has a greater supply of housing than the South Bay, which is where Cisco is headquartered.

A third reason is Hacienda's proximity to a large labor pool within a one-hour drive, referred to by urban planners as the "commute shed." Hacienda's location gives it access to the largest labor pool in the region, and the facilities' proximity to BART -- cited as another reason for the move by Langdon -- contributes to that access.

Cisco expects to occupy the new offices on March 1, 2001. In total, approximately 1,000 employees are expected to work in the two offices.

Growth Coupled with Internet
The company was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists at Stanford University who sought an easier way to connect different types of computer systems. Cisco shipped its first product in 1986.

Now, the company provides much of the hardware and software infrastructure that makes up the global Internet

The company's growth has been steady but took a great leap from fiscal 1996-97 to fiscal 1998-99 as the Internet became a driving force in the economy. In those two years, the company's net income roughly doubled, going from $1 billion to $2 billion annually.

Net income for the year ended July 29, 2000 was $2.7 billion, on sales of $18.9 billion.